Coming together: Conversation Week in Los Angeles

On Friday night I hosted a Gaia Gathering/ Conversation in LA  for Conversation Week 2008 and it was wonderful. Something magical happens when good people, striving to create something positive in the world, get together. Connections are forged. New ideas change us. The evident goodwill of humanity emerges. Our desire to contribute and commune is strengthened and enlivened.

We gathered together for dinner at California Vegan. Our focus was How can we balance our personal needs with the most pressing needs of our community and the larger world? This question is particularly interesting to me because I find it extremely important to be authentic about our own needs, build community and contribute to the world. It's a question I work with each day. Sometimes we are too selfish and sometimes we are too selfless. As for me, I really cannot give my best to others if I am not taking care of my own needs. There's no way I can be abundant and exhausted, even though I try a lot of the time ;)

Other Gaia members in attendance were Lucy, Christy & Ryan. There were also two lovely people that found us through Conversation Cafe, which was exciting. They're planning on checking us out at Gaia soon. It was a really nourishing event and we were all able to contribute to each other.

One thing we all agreed upon was the need to create strong local community and relationships in our own lives. Our society is highly individualistic, families have become less important, and there are so many distractions at our fingertips (literally). We have to be proactive to create connections and community in our lives. This is incredibly important and can make the difference between a meaningful/ fulfilling life and an unfulfilling one.

Something else that stuck with me was the issue of attention span and listening in our current culture. We all seemed to agree that the media and entertainment has become so fast paced. A debate used to mean that we really listened to the the other's argument and really had to consider it. Now people are often only given a minute or so to make a point and it has become largely about selling an idea rather than exploring it. So, it strikes me that this means we need to listen more and really think deeply about the information that comes to us. That's something we can do on the individual level.

It's noteworthy that everyone at the table wanted to contribute and in some way "save the world." I think that is such a beautiful part of the human spirit. We want to contribute something. We have love within us. And, even though all of us had faced some kind of disillusionment, together, we came to realize that the world, with all of its faults, has changed.  One of the attendees talked about her activism in the 1960s and how she didn't see as much change as she hoped, but then was able to see how the world had changed because of her and everyone who worked to make a difference. Today we have more civil rights, less sexism, less homophobia, more information and awareness. The world has grown in consciousness. I love that.

It's easy to be distracted by all the problems and miss the benchmarks of progress and success.

So, overall it was a beautiful event that nourished something very human and very good in us all. I really do think these connections are so important. It doesn't even matter how many times we see or meet a person. They can always impact us and change our lives forever.